


Aw, Nuts! (2009)

by JennyB



Series: Advent 2009 [12]
Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Advent Challenge 2009, Implied Relationships, M/M, Slice of Life, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-12
Updated: 2009-12-12
Packaged: 2018-01-05 14:31:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1095068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennyB/pseuds/JennyB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A line in a song touches off an unforgettable Christmas Eve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aw, Nuts! (2009)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Advent Challenge 2009. Prompt: Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

Goku was resting his chin on the back of Sanzo's seat and half listening to the soft music coming out of Jeep's radio. His golden eyes were slightly glazed in his boredom, and when Gojyo teased him, saying that he now looked like the dumbass he always told him he was, the teen gave him a half-hearted dismissive wave, and then sighed heavily. He was about to ask Hakkai how much longer this drive from hell was going to take when suddenly, he perked up as a deep, rich tenor crooned, _Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..._

Ignoring the remainder of the song now that the singer had started on about Jack frost and Eskimos, he leaned forward between the front seats and asked, "Ne, Hakkai? You can roast chestnuts? Like, water chestnuts?"

The healer chuckled. "No, Goku. Do you remember the street vendors with the carts that we sometimes saw in the larger cities? The ones who were selling the sugar roasted chestnuts? They're similar to those, only fire-roasted in a special pan and served with maybe a sprinkling of salt once cracked open."

"Ohh!" The teen's face lit up with a dreamy look at the memory. "Yeah, those were yummy!" He was quiet for a couple of minutes, and then he pressed forward a little more, now almost halfway in the front seat. "When we get to town, can we get some and make them? Please? They'd be a good snack for tonight, and uh...we could leave some for Santa, too! It'd be a nice change from all the cookies!" he wheedled, only to turn and swat at Gojyo when he felt a kick to the back of his thighs. "What'd you do that for, you shithead?" he demanded.

"Because your bouncing around is making me nauseous. Sit still, damn it!"

"Fine, but I just wanna know if we can make chestnuts tonight. Can we, Hakkai? _Pleeeease_?"

"Oh for fuck's sake! Tell the monkey yes, 'kai, so he'll shut up!" Gojyo grumbled, all the while trying to push Goku's ass out of his face as the teen was now partially standing and leaning forward in an attempt to give the healer his best pleading look.

Hakkai chuckled softly. "I'll look for some when I do the shopping, Goku. If the town is big enough to carry them, I'll buy some for you, ok?"

Appeased, the youngest male sat back in his seat, and remained quiet for the rest of the drive. "You spoil him," Sanzo muttered lowly so that only the green-eyed brunet would hear him, and he slid a cigarette between his lips.

Hakkai grinned, and glanced sidelong at the priest. "If memory serves me correctly, he's not the only one."

Sanzo, too, remained silent until they reached town.

* * *

Because they were going to be celebrating Christmas that year, Sanzo had, at Hakkai's suggestion, gotten a suite so that they could all be together. And of course, Goku had been beyond excited to see that they had an actual working fireplace in the main living area. After dropping his kit, he'd gone and found Hakkai's shopping bags with all their holiday things in them and had grabbed his stocking, immediately hanging it front dead centre in the hearth - an action which had promptly earned him a swat with the harisen and a growled warning to "calm the hell down."

Hakkai had quickly interceded, and had asked Goku to accompany him to shop. As he'd slipped on his coat, he'd asked if Sanzo and Gojyo could please bring in enough wood to fill the firebox. He'd then smiled at them both - one of those looks that suggested he'd be exceptionally disappointed if they didn't do as he asked. In town, he'd quickly picked up the things he'd need for the next couple of days, and much to Goku's great delight, a large bag of beautiful chestnuts and a long-handled roaster. Giving them to the teen to carry, they'd headed back to their room, and Hakkai had been very pleased to see not only a stocked woodpile, but also a fire in the hearth. Sanzo had informed Hakkai that he'd made sure it was lit so the room would be warm for when they returned, and that they'd have a good base of coals for later. Hakkai had thanked him for that, and had smiled, imagining that what had _actually_ happened was that the priest had smoked and barked orders at Gojyo, who had done what he'd been told to under threat of death.

"How was your afternoon?" Hakkai asked as he began putting everything away, all the while telling Goku that they'd do the chestnuts after dinner.

"Oh, it was a great afternoon with the shitty monk," Gojyo drawled, and when he saw the glare he was getting from the blond, he smirked. "Sanzo seemed content to hold my log for me while I worked with it, and then we did all kinds of things with our wood," he said lewdly, knowing Hakkai wouldn't let the priest _really_ shoot him. "Then it got _really_ hot in here. It was great."

"I'm going to kill you, you perverted roach," Sanzo hissed under his breath, and he scowled when he heard Goku giggling and saw the redhead blow him a kiss.

Hakkai just sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "Gojyo, don't be so juvenile. And please, don't corrupt Goku - especially on Christmas Eve." He gave his friend a small smile, and asked, "Can you help Goku finish the decorating while I work on dinner?" Not waiting for the kappa's answer, he pulled out a couple of pots and began working, the smile morphing into a smirk when he heard the teen pestering the hanyou. Since Sanzo was indulging him by agreeing to a traditional turkey dinner the following day, Hakkai had decided to make some of Sanzo's favourites for Christmas Eve, including miso, white rice, and some grilled fish. The other two weren't overly thrilled with what was on offer, but the healer essentially told them that it wasn't just about them, and that if they didn't like it, they were more than free to make something for themselves. He chuckled when they suddenly found the menu rather appealing, after all.

Despite his having had thirds of everything, Goku seemed quite distracted as they ate their meal. He knew Hakkai wasn’t putting him off on purpose, but sometimes, it felt like it – especially when they ate late to start with, and then the healer had to clean up the dishes and put the leftovers away, and then wash all the pots and pans and tidy the kitchen. Seriously, couldn’t those things wait until later? Even the hanyou slowed him down, telling the other two that he was going down to the bar to get some Christmas cheer. He figured it was some sort of pervy kappa code word, and to be honest, he really didn’t want to know what the redhead was up to. Besides, if Gojyo was out for the night, there were more chestnuts for him! 

Finally, the big moment had arrived, and Goku didn’t have to be asked twice to come give Hakkai a hand. As he sat at the counter, he watched the green-eyed demon show him how to make an ‘X’ in the bottom of each chestnut with a knife to let the steam escape. And when he was handed the blade, he took great delight in helping to prepare everything. Hakkai got out that special pot for roasting them, and Goku carried the chestnuts over to where he knelt in front of the fireplace, tipping them out of the bottom of his shirt and into the vessel. "Now what?" he asked eagerly.

Hakkai smiled. "We roast them, like this." He pushed the lid closed on the basket, and holding the handle, he slid the device into the fire, balancing it on a log. Every minute or so, he’d give the basket a quick shake to mix them up and keep them from burning. "Here you go, Goku. You give it a try, ne?" Leaving the teen to his task, he moved back a little and sat on the sofa next to Sanzo. He could see that the priest looked very drowsy, and was beginning to doze off. "Too much fresh air today?" he asked.

The dozy violet eyes opened a little wider and he glanced sidelong at the tall brunet in a half-hearted glower. "You’d be tired, too, if you’d had to split half a forest worth of wood and carry it all in here," he grumbled, making sure the healer _knew_ he’d helped Gojyo with the task they’d been assigned. He tried to look irritated when he saw Hakkai smile a little. "I think I even got a blister from it." At that, he held out his hand for the other’s inspection.

Hakkai’s smile widened. He knew very well that Sanzo liked to do as little as possible when it came to the general running of their ‘family’, as odd of a household as it was. But he also knew that Sanzo would, on occasion, do some things, if only to please him. And truly, he did appreciate those little gestures that proved Sanzo did care about him. Now, playing along with the priest’s game, he took the blond’s hand in his and leaned forward a little to inspect the area. "Mm, yes, I see. Well, we wouldn’t want to cause any damage to such supple skin, ne?" With a soft chuckle, he sandwiched Sanzo’s hand between his own, and he carefully healed the miniscule blister. "There. Thank God that crisis was averted. I mean, think of the potential for infection."

"Smartass. And I’ve also got a knot in my shoulders from not only that, but from having to deal with the kappa and his idiocy all afternoon."

The healer chuckled softly at that. A massage was a way for Sanzo to be touched without having to _say_ that he wanted to be touched. And, it didn’t raise any eyebrows when the others were around, either. "Oh, that won’t do," Hakkai agreed, and he nudged the blond to get him to turn his back to him. He shifted himself to sit on the arm of the couch, and once Sanzo had gotten himself settled, Hakkai pressed his thumbs against the priest’s spine, and began to massage deeply along his shoulders. In reality, there was nothing wrong with the other, short of a little tension. Sanzo was in good shape, and a few armloads of wood wouldn’t have done much to him. Still, he continued with the massage, enjoying the feel of taut muscle under his hands, and the sub-vocal almost-purr he could hear coming from the other. When he was finished with his shoulders, he began working his way down the blond’s spine, all the way to his lower back, removing every knot, twist, and bit of tension he found. He saw Sanzo bow his head forward a little, and after about ten minutes, he heard slow, even breathing, and knew he’d put the other to sleep. He _almost_ pressed a kiss to the priest’s nape, but caught himself just in time. He wasn’t sure if Goku knew about them yet – Gojyo did, but then, the kappa was acutely tuned in to things like that.

Very carefully, he slipped out from behind the blond and went to check on what Goku was doing. Seeing that the chestnuts were done, he went and retrieved a clean dishtowel from the kitchen, and he dumped them onto it, pressing down a bit to crack the shells. "Once they’ve cooled a little, we can eat them," he said to the teen, and he got up to get a bowl to put the peeled chestnuts into – an idea that proved fruitless since Goku ate the nuts as fast as they could be prepared.

"These are good!" Goku exclaimed. "Kind of like a baked potato."

"Yes, a little, I suppose," Hakkai agreed. "I’m glad you like them. It’s too bad they’re a seasonal treat, ne?"

"Yeah, but that makes them even better because you can’t have them all the time. When you have them, they're special."

Hakkai smiled. "Yes, that’s very true about a lot of things." He glanced behind him at the dozing priest, finding Goku’s statement applied there, too. He loved the small moments he had with the monk, and they were made all the more precious to him for their infrequency. He fell silent then, and he finished peeling the chestnuts for the teen, giggling a little when he saw that there were only three left. "Hm. Not quite sufficient to leave for Santa, ne?" he remarked.

Goku grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, well, they were so good, I couldn’t help myself."

Hakkai smirked. "Good thing we’ve still got those cookies for him then, ne?" Getting to his feet, he picked up the towel with all the shells and carried it into the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with a plate containing three cookies. "There." He helped Goku with his letter to Santa, and once the teen had gone off to bed, Hakkai stirred the coals in the fireplace, and then got the presents he’d wrapped earlier and put them in the far corner of the room. Finally, he turned his attention to the stockings. He was just finishing the last one when there was a loud pop from the hearth.

Seconds later, there were two loud bangs, followed by, "What the fuck? Hakkai, are you alright?"

Hakkai turned to the couch, and he saw Sanzo sitting there, fully awake and eyes wide, his revolver pointed at the fireplace. Behind him, the healer saw two small, smoking holes in the mantle behind Gojyo and Goku’s stockings, and it didn’t take him long to figure out what was going on. He laughed for a minute, and he nodded. "Yes, Sanzo. I’m perfectly fine." He crossed the room and sat down next to the blond. "I’m so sorry to have woken you, but I think that Goku might have dropped one of his chestnuts when he brought them over to be roasted, and when I stirred the coals a few minutes ago, I'm afraid I must have pushed it into a hot spot. The heat just caused it to explode. Though I have to say, I’m very glad you’re a good aim – that could very well have been me!"

Sanzo snorted, and he reached for his cigarettes off the coffee table. "You think I don’t know what you look like by now to avoid shooting you?" he asked as he lit up. "But I can’t say the kappa or the monkey would be so lucky."

Hakkai chuckled softly, and leaning back against the couch, just _slightly_ against Sanzo, he took his hand and said, "Well then, I’m very grateful for that. Thank you."

"Smartass," Sanzo countered, and then he fell silent as he finished his cigarette.

The two of them stayed like that on the couch all night, neither one really sleeping, but they did doze off and on in front of the fire. They heard Gojyo come in just after dawn, and twenty minutes after that, Goku came tearing into the living room, anxious to see what sorts of goodies he’d been brought.

Hakkai heard the annoyed growl from the priest, and after slipping his hand free from the other’s, he got to his feet. "I’ll make coffee," he offered, and he didn't miss the small, grateful smile he got in return.

Gojyo joined them a few minutes later, and while Hakkai cooked breakfast, he and the teen turned their attention to their stockings. "What the fuck?" Gojyo exclaimed a few minutes later, and he held up a tangerine with a very clean bullet hole going through it.

"Yeah, what gives?" Goku echoed, holding up a similarly damaged fruit, a look of confusion on his face.

Hakkai just laughed softly. "It’s Christmas, ne? That right there is ‘holey’ fruit." He heard Sanzo's, "Tch," and then he ducked as two oranges were thrown good-naturedly across the room at him.


End file.
